As Sharon Howrey stood before a packed courtroom at Thursday's sentencing of Christopher Loven -- the driver convicted of striking and killing her husband, Eugene, while he rode his bicycle through Lefthand Canyon -- she handed Loven a magnet that read, "To err is human."

The two then shared a hug.

"I hope it can be the start of accepting responsibility, of forgiving yourself and moving on," she told him.

Both families now will begin that process of moving on after a Boulder County judge sentenced Loven to 120 days of electronic home monitoring nearly two years after he struck and killed 73-year-old Eugene "Phil" Howrey in Lefthand Canyon.

Loven, 47, was convicted in March of careless driving resulting in death by Boulder County jury.

According to an investigation by the Colorado State Patrol, Loven was driving a Kenworth W900 dump truck hauling a trailer with construction equipment west on Lefthand Canyon Drive on June 17, 2011, with his daughter in the passenger seat when the accident occurred. Loven turned left to go south on Olde Stage Road and collided with Howrey, who was headed east on Lefthand Canyon Drive.

The report said Loven was driving about 20 mph during the turn, while Howrey was riding between 25 mph and 35 mph. The speed limit is 35 mph.

'Message has to be sent'

The charge carried a possible jail sentence of up to a year, but Judge John Stavely said the monitoring would allow Loven to spend time with his daughter while still being able to think about the consequences of his actions.

He said Loven's prior driving incidents -- including two involving bicyclists -- warranted more than just a probationary sentence.

"I think the message has to be sent not only to Mr. Loven, but to the community, that if you keep appearing before us you will face punitive sanction," Stavely said.

Loven also was sentenced to 3 years probation, 200 hours of community service and was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.

"I want to reiterate how sad and horrible I feel for the Howrey family," Loven said. "I would do anything if I could change that."

"On one hand we're talking about carelessness," Finn said. "On the other hand, the damage is devastating. People won't see their husband, their father, their grandfather ever again because of that carelessness."

"Anyone sharing the road with him will be playing Russian roulette with their life unless he knows in his heart he did something wrong, that it wasn't the trees or the way the road curved," Rick Howrey told the judge.

'A really, really great guy'

Sharon Howrey told Stavely that her husband "represented what was good and right in people." In addition to the magnet she gave Loven, she had one of her own that read, "Love conquers all."

"I know the forgiveness I extend to you I'll have to remember all the times I want to be with Phil," she told Loven.

After the hearing, Sharon Howrey said she hoped people following the case would learn to share the roads and be mindful of cyclists.

"Phil would not want us to be stuck in our sadness," she said. "He would want his death to further something helpful."

Also after the hearing, Rick Howrey said his father was always thinking about safety. He said after the accident, he got calls from his childhood friends reminding him of that.

"We had to wear those dorky helmets before they were cool," he said with a laugh.

Added Sharon Howrey, "He was a really, really great guy. I miss him so much every day. He made such a difference in my life."

She said she did not have an issue with the sentence, and said the judge did the best he could with a difficult case.

Rick Howrey said he was relieved to finally see a conclusion to what has been an almost two-year case.

"I'm glad it's over," he said. "I wish we never had to go through it. I wish Mr. Loven and his daughter never had to go through it."

Local duo joining overseas exhibition excursionFilippo Swartz went to Italy, where his mother was born and he spent the first year or so of his life, every summer until he had to stick around to be a part of summer football activities for the Longmont High School team. Full Story

MacIntyre says the completed project will be best in Pac-12There were bulldozers, hard hats, mud, concrete trucks, blueprints, mud, cranes, lots of noise and, uh, mud, during the last recruiting cycle when Colorado football coach Mike MacIntyre brought recruits to campus. Full Story

Most people don't play guitar like Grayson Erhard does. That's because most people can't play guitar like he does. The guitarist for Fort Collins' Aspen Hourglass often uses a difficult two-hands-on-the-fretboard technique that Eddie Van Halen first popularized but which players such as Erhard have developed beyond pop-rock vulgarity.
Full Story